Olympic Men's Halfpipe Final - Live Blog As It Happened

Olympic Men's Halfpipe Final - Live Blog As It Happened

THIS BLOG HAS NOW CLOSED. YOU CAN READ BACK THROUGH IT (DON’T FORGET TO CLICK ON THE ‘READ MORE’ TABS AS YOU SCROLL DOWN) AND CHECK OUT OUR FULL REPORT ON THE MEN’S HALFPIPE FINAL HERE. DON’T FORGET TO TUNE IN FOR OUR LIVE BLOG OF THE WOMEN’S HALFPIPE FINAL TOMORROW.

Welcome to Whitelines‘ live blog of the 2014 Winter Olympics men’s halfpipe final in Sochi. We’ll be kicking off at 5.30pm GMT on Tuesday 11th February, commenting on all the action as it happens. Read our complete guide to the Olympic halfpipe here.

Here’s how the halfpipe final works:

6 riders have qualified straight from the qualification heats, and another 6 from the semi-finals.

The 12 riders will have two runs each, with their highest score counting.

Unlike previous Olympics, the running order will remain the same for both runs.

Watch the coverage on the BBC Two, or on BBC Online. Get involved by leaving comments, or by hitting us up on Twitter (@whitelinesmag) or Facebook using the hashtag #BackTheBrits.

mattbarr:
I think he’s a WST plant. I’ve got it on good authority he’s got a tailfish in the locker for the final
5:02

Duthie:
Thought they were outlawed under the Geneva Convention.
5:02

Ed:
So if anyone’s interested, I found frankly ridiculous odds of 21/1 on Ayumu at Bwin. But being the gambling rookie I am, I managed to bet both my brother and I’s combined stake on him (40 quid) instead of a tenner each on him and Danny Davis. Basically, if Ayumu wins, I’m quids in to the tune of 800 quid! Shaun still clearly the man to beat however, but his odds are just not worth a flutter. So says your new betting expert. #JohnMcCririck
5:08

Ed:
You know what, this pipe (which they’ve done their best to rescue) is starting to cut up badly. It’s gonna be tough for Shaun to throw down anything super progressive now, but we’ll see. Pretty sure he’s gonna go full Morgan and huck it.
6:05

Duthie:
58.50 is his second run score. Now he plays the waiting game.
6:05

Holy fuck what an upset! @shaunwhite misses out on a medal while I Pod takes the gold! ??. Unreal #snowboarding #halfpipe #sochi
6:35

Meagan Dullack@Meagan1Dullack

Honestly, these #Olympics have been insanely #unpredictable and the conditions today were off for everyone. #respect #snowboarding #halfpipe

Jamie Nicholls@jamienichollsuk

Ayumu Hirano you are a #legend haha!

Comment From Jonathan France
Phenomenal final.
6:37

Duthie:
Agreed.

Comment From Flugeryl
And a new era begins…gone is the white vinyl…bring on the golden iPod
6:37

Comment From A. G. Lounge
Interesting there were no triples, maybe Shaun/Ayumu will release the footage now?
6:38

Ricky Anzai

JAPAN taking home the Silver and Bronze!! CLUTCH performance by 15 and 18 year old men.
#olympics #halfpipe #nottooshabby #newgeneration
6:38

Ed:
So Shaun White has been de-throned on the biggest stage. Where does he go from here? No doubt the riders – not least on the American team, who know a thing or two about building halfpipes – will have much, much more to say about the conditions in Sochi. As for El Blanco, the ginger ninja, the Flying Tomato… does he pick himself up and put himself through another punishing training cycle? Does he switch to skateboarding full time? Or call time on his riding career – which has started to look like a job, even a grind – and focus on his many business interests? Time will tell, but the events under those floodlights tonight will echo through snowboarding for months and years to come I’m sure.
6:42

Duthie:
With iPod’s victory, there are still only two countries that have ever won men’s Olympic halfpipe gold: Switzerland and the USA. 3-2 to the Yanks.
6:43

Comment From Brenns
Anyone prepared to start thinking about what it means to have Sage and Iouri as the two new faces of snowboarding for the masses?
6:44

Duthie:
Not sure you can lump them together – very different riders.

Whitelines@whitelinesmag

Wow! Just wow. What did we just witness? No-one was predicting that. What a final.

Tiffany McGowan@MsTanywral

No matter if he wasn’t his best, #ShaunWhite still has more medals and accomplishments than most of the haters complaining. Give it a rest.

Duthie:
A fair point. Three golds from three games would have been an unbelievable achievement. He’s still got a creaking trophy cabinet at home, and one hell of a legacy. But that’s irrelevant to the ‘haters’, so they’re unlikely to give it a rest.

Comment From hamish duncan
Unbelievable half pipe final! Great live blogging whitelines! that along with the cracking Ed Leigh banter made it all the more enjoyable!
6:49

Jed Nendez@Xpower

Dear American snowboarding friends: where is your god now? #ShaunWhite

Kilee Garrity@kiles_77

Still a champion in my eyes #ShaunWhite #Sochi2014 #Olympics #halfpipepic.twitter.com/6Qs9OPG45R

Comment From _Pengwinning
Whether the pipe was shitty or not (tee hee hee – shitty pipe) all the contenders rode the same pipe in each stage. The state of the pipe wasn’t really acceptable but those winning riders didn’t stack it when most of the rest did. And threw down hammers to boot. Simples.
6:55

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